Know your onions well before you peel them

The secret behind a well-turned out dish of course has to be what goes into its making: the ingredients. When you say ingredients veggies are the primary ones, but there is one vegetable -- onion -- that is an integral part of most cuisines across the world and that has found place in most of the curries, salads and main-course dishes.Unless you are a hardcore Jain, onions play a big part in daily diet most probably.

If you are a Malayali, you must very well know the difference between onions and small onions, aka shallots. They differ in taste, smell and purpose. What about the other varieties? There are a handful of items from the onion family that are being consumed across the world as raw or cooked. How would you know which type goes in a particular dish? Here are some onion truths as revealed by chef and food expert Abdul Rasheed.

The onion (savala in Malayalam) is a vegetable that can be had raw or cooked. It is a storehouse of Vitamin C, B6, folates, iron, potassium and manganese. There are several varieties of big onions which need to be used specifically for different dishes. Here’s to a few onion truths.

Baby onion

Also known as pearl onion, baby onion is the smaller version of the big fat ones. A bit high on the sweet factor, it is a common feature in American casserole recipes.

Bermuda onion

Though big, sweet and white, it is not as pungent as the ordinary big onion.

Egyptian onion

Popular as top onion, tree onion or walking onion, they sprout in bunches. Thick-skinned, they are pretty pungent too and look a close version of leeks and spring onion.

Green onion

Green onion is often mistaken for spring onion. It is very small and is harvested when the stalks turn green. It appears as toppings for several dishes.

Leeks

These have a light shade of green and belong to the family of white onions. Soft in flavour, their stalks figure a lot in Chinese cuisine. They can be had raw or in soups. They are better fried than boiled or cooked as the texture of the onion is too soft.

Red onion

It is also called purple onion after its skin colour. Sweet and not too smelly, it goes well in salads.

Shallots

They are our common small onions - cheriyulli. They have a special flavour and an unmatched taste which is why they are an integral part of every kitchen.

Spring onion

Spring onion is also known as fresh onion or summer onion. It comes in red, yellow or white colour. Rich in sugar and water content, it is the lifeline in salads.

White onion

It is white with a white peel. Extremely pungent, it appears mainly in Mexican cuisine, especially in sweet and sour recipes. It can be sautéed to a fine brown.

Yellow onion

A common variety, pungent and smelly, it goes by the name of brown onion in Europe.